FirstEdge TrackLock Tactical Hunter ELMAX Folders

I like it - it reminds me of the Emerson CQC-14 Snubby. I rarely need a 3.5-4" blade, but I despise small handles.

https://www.firstedgeusa.com/ The catalog explains it a little more. Looks like the lock works on the same shearing principle as button locks or imagin half an axis lock where the blade is drilled out to accept the locking pin which is spring loaded to press it back out against the metal liner. When the blade reaches full open, this coincides with a circular hole cut out of the liner, into which the locking pin is pushed, wedging itself across the blade and liner in the same orientation as the axis lock or button lock. There are older models on YouTube that have an older cut away design in the handle which exposes the locking pin. They appear to have upgraded the scale to do away with the need to physically press the locking pin back down like a button in order to unlock. They have replaced the old milled out scale with a scale containing a slider, which I believe serves to slide forward under the scale towards the pivot, and depress the lock pin in order to unlock the knife. https://massdrop-s3.imgix.net/img_comment/LaNLnjHCRVGDlFAo6aHT_57C59C8A-9FF6-472D-AD4B-BB7BB17CE7DA.jpeg https://massdrop-s3.imgix.net/img_comment/ZqhJGqRgaEPBZKT9agQw_3157FCDB-71FB-4962-B187-C6D6A22A9DED.jpeg i Think the dimensions of the knife are dictated by the lock to some degree and this is the reason why people have intuitively picked up on something looking ”off” about the blade to handle ratio, and how far back the pivot seems set on the current model in the massdrop pictures.

I'd never heard of first edge, but BladeHQ does carry them. Regarding the lock, the BHQ web pages say: "The tracklock features a large steel locking pin that passes through the blade and liner providing a safe and secure lockup that well exceeds the industrial standard." Which sounds pretty solid. MD might have sold a few more if theyd have bothered to put that in the description. BladeHQ has both the manual and spring-assited types, as well as automatics. All of the same body design as what was offered on this drop, however all of BHQ's offerings have are tanto blades. And here's a real oddity: there is a plain tanto blade and a partially serrated tanto blade version of the spring assited models, and both are listed on bladehq.com for a "sale price" of $199.99. There are the same two blade options for the manual folders, but the plain edge has a non-sale price of $125.99, whereas the serrated manual folder is "sale priced" at $179.99. That's...odd, to say the least. And I just double-checked to be sure that I did not, in fct, receive any notice about this drop. It's all very esoteric.